Badge of the British Merchant Navy

Happy Merchant Navy Day!   In Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand today, September 3rd, is celebrated as Merchant Navy Day – an official day of remembrance of the sacrifices made by merchant mariners in war-time.  In World War I and World War II, over 45, 000 British merchant mariners lost their lives.   The observance began in Great Britain in 2000, in Canada in 2001, and in Australia in 2008.   This years is New Zealand’s first official observance of Merchant Navy Day.    In the United Sates, May 22nd has been celebrated as National Maritime Day since 1933.

Assuming that Hurricane Earl doesn’t interfere, the 3rd annual Fish & Ships Labor Day Weekend Seafood Festival will be held at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut this Saturday through Monday.

Fish & Ships Seafood Festival back at Mystic Seaport

The inner harbor of beautiful Victoria, Canada on Vancouver Island will be  filled with between 75 to 100 classic boats beginning today and running through the Sunday at the 33rd Annual Victoria Classic Boat Festival.

Harbour plays host to classic boat fest

Maritime heritage will sail into the Inner Harbour at this year’s Victoria Classic Boat Festival.

Historical nautical vessels used for pleasure, transportation, fishing and missionary work from as early as the late 1800s will navigate their way to the Causeway floats.

“Victoria is really a hotbed of classic boats. We have thousands and thousands of marina berths in Victoria full of beautiful, beautiful old boats,” said festival chair Jamie Webb.

Between 75 to 100 classic boats will line the Inner Harbour Sept. 3-5 showing off the spirit and tradition of maritime history that the classic boat festival has worked to preserve for more than three decades.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the information along.

Oil platform explodes off La. coast; crew rescued

Mariner involved in 13 Gulf accidents since ’06, seven with violations

One Day Before Explosion, Mariner Energy Employees Rallied Against  Offshore Oil Drilling Moratorium

The 2010 Port of San Diego Festival of Sail kicks off today with a parade of tall ships on San Diego Bay at 11 a.m.   The festival runs runs through September 6th  and features more than 20 tall ships and other vessels from around the world, including the Californian, a replica of the original America’s Cup racing yacht America, the gaff topsail schooner Bill of Rights, the Kaisei, a brigantine from Antigua. For a more complete list of participating ships click here.  It sounds like a great festival, and unlike the East Coast, the weather is forecast to be beautiful.

Festival sails into San Diego Bay

The folks in Camden are keeping an eye to weather as well. The Bangor Daily News reports:

For now, events and programs remain in place as scheduled for the annual Blue Hill Fair and the Camden Windjammer Festival. A Pirate Invasion of Lubec set for Saturday morning might be postponed if the weather turns severe, but the Eastport Salmon Festival would still happen with “all food and music events” moved inside the Eastport Arts Center.

Age of the Dragons is a re-imagining of Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick. Set in a mythical realm where Captain Ahab and crew hunt dragons for the vitriol that powers their world, Ishmael, a charismatic harpooner joins their quest. Ahab’s adopted daughter Rachel, beautiful and tough, runs the hunting vessel. Ahab’s obsession is to seek revenge on a great “White Dragon” that slaughtered his family when he was young and left his body scarred and mauled, drives the crew deeper into the heart of darkness. In the White Dragon’s lair Ahab’s secrets are revealed and Rachel must choose between following him on his dark quest or escaping to a new life with Ishmael.

Timeshare Carriers"

What would Lord Nelson have thought of this?  There were various news reports out recently that the British and the French may share aircraft carriers.

UK, France closer to carrier sharing deal

Britain and France are moving closer to a deal to share aircraft carriers, a British newspaper reported Tuesday — a move that could save the one-time rivals money in an age of austerity. The possibility of pooling carriers has been suggested before, but The Times of London claimed that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron were due to outline the proposal during a planned November summit.

The idea has been kicking around since at least 2008.   Nevertheless, the news reports were met with protests and an immediate denial by the UK Ministry of Defence.

It is an intriguing idea, not the least because it would involve two traditional nautical enemies.   In some respects it would be a manifestation of  ”Augustine’s Laws,” which were formulated by Norman Augustine, a former chairman of Martin Marietta, a major US defense contractor. “His Law XVI was “In the year 2054, the entire defense budget will purchase just one aircraft. This aircraft will have to be shared by the Air Force and Navy 3 1/2 days each per week, except for leap year, when it will be made available to the Marine Corps for the extra day.”  The serious truth behind this law is that since the end of World War II the cost per weapon for airplanes, tanks, and ships has risen much faster than the defense budget has, so every single category of weapon has declined in numbers.” (from James Fallows, Uncle Sam Buys an Airplane)

Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing on the news.

Asian big head and silver carp were first brought to the southern United States back in the 1970s to clean catfish farms, and they have made their way north through the Mississippi River basin spreading to the Missouri River and the Wabash Rivers,  also invading Canadian waters, particularly the Great Lakes.  Not only are they a threat to native fish, but have proven to be dangerous to recreational boater.  Silver carp, in particular, are notorious for jumping when excited.

Flying carp hits racing kayaker in the head

Brad Pennington initially thought someone had thrown a brick at him from the shores of the Missouri River.  It turns out it was a flying silver carp.

Pennington was near mile 35 of the Missouri River 340 boat race about 11 a.m. Tuesday when the airborne fish hit him in the side of the face and nearly caused him to capsize his kayak.

“My first thought was ‘What hit me?’” Pennington said. “The second thing was that I couldn’t believe I didn’t capsize with a boat like I had.”

Pennington, 43, an accomplished river racer from Houston, was paddling an Olympic-style kayak that measured 17-feet long and just 12-inches wide at its widest point. With the river’s depth approaching its extreme for this time of the year, a spill into the water could have meant legitimate danger for Pennington.

“I could have been swimming for miles,” he said. “I’m relieved to get hit by something like that and stay upright.”

Silver carp, which are not indigenous to North America, have become a genuine problem in the Missouri River, injuring fishermen, water skiers and other recreational boaters. Another species of Asian carps, the bighead carp, is affecting the health of native fish according to Duane Chapman of the Columbia Environmental Research Center.

The species was originally brought to this county from Asia in the 1970s in an attempt to control algae and plankton in aquaculture (fish farming) and sewage treatment. The theory was that these carp would eat excess amounts algae and plankton, lowering the amount of harmful elements like nitrogen and phosphorus in the water. The plan failed, but along the way, some bighead carp escaped the lagoons and aquaculture areas, spreading into streams and spawning.